1. Who is ISANS?
ISANS is the leading deliverer of settlement services in Atlantic Canada
We are the primary contact in Nova Scotia on refugee, settlement and immigration issues for 2,000+ organizations, employers, government departments and individuals annually

2. Vision and Mission A community where all can belong and grow
Helping immigrants build a future in Nova Scotia

3. ISANS Programs & Services
‘One-stop Shop’
English
Settlement
Employment
Business
Community
Employer Support
Online and Pre-arrival

4. The role of personalized feedback in online courses
Muhammad Nawaz, EAL Instructor
The role of personalized feedback in online courses

5. Outline Introduction Feedback: face to face vs online
Types of feedback
Features of effective feedback
Style and technique
What we do
How we do it
Benefits (motivation – retention – course completion)
Testimonials

6. Introduction ISANS online courses: overview
[Online platform will be demonstrated at this point]
Feedback in online writing courses
Best practices at ISANS

7. Types of Feedback Numeric or letter grade
Written or descriptive (directly in LMS boxes)
Written or descriptive via word file uploads
Verbal (through built-in voice recorders)
Video (through built-in devices or podcast)
BigBlueButton livestreaming
Peer feedback on discussion forums

8. Features of Effective Feedback
Meaningful, focused and clear (plain language)
Easy to follow
Critical and reflective
A tool to develop instructor-student trust relationship
Motivating and engaging

9. What We Do
Give detailed feedback; however, manage the length of comments
Use descriptive format and attach a word file
Customize feedback to each task goals and each learner
Manage time considering number of students
Highlight errors and add specific comments
Encourage questions on feedback points

10. Personalized Personalize and customize feedback
Highlight discrepancies in the skill area and add comments in the margin
Refer back to previous feedback for repeated errors

11. Focused Focus on competencies and task objectives
Communicate directly to the learner
Address all points in the task in separate paragraphs or point form
Use sandwich technique

12. Timely Timely and immediate Ongoing and incremental
Formative in nature or helps in the next task
Decreases learners’ uncertainties and feeling of isolation
Avoids content disconnection
Increases self-reflection
Builds on improvement

13. Scaffolding Scaffolds skills and concepts Refers back to previous
feedback
Builds on what learners already know
Helps learners achieve specific goals of the task
Refers to web-based resources
Highlights errors but mitigates learners tension
Unifies the learning process

14. Consistent Maintains pace and quality of feedback for all
Promotes learners’ ownership through tips for self-directed learning
Uses plain, concrete and clear language and avoids ambiguity
Encourages all learners to ask questions

15. Benefits of feedback Motivates learners and increases retention
Increases the rate of course completion
Improves self-reflection
Improves learners’ skills and confidence in writing
Increases participation on discussion forums
Encourages learners to take more online courses

16. Limitations of feedback
Raises learners’ expectations (sometimes hard to meet)
Difficult for instructors if the group is large
Time consuming /can cause stress for instructors
Workload /can affect quality if workload is unmanageable
Waitlists may be long / may result in larger groups

17. Testimonials
“Due to accurate and very detailed feedback from our facilitator I have no question for the last units”.
“I appreciate all the feedback, correction and suggestion you gave during this writing course. I couldn't have completed this course without your help, support and encouragement”.
“Thank you once more for the time you spent on each feedback. The explanations were detailed and clear. They really helped to understand where the problems were.”
“I just want thank you for creating an environment of enthusiasm for learning and room for making mistakes along the way. I have saved every feedback so I try to work my way through it in the future. I would never manage to complete it without a good guidance”. [June 11, 2018]

18. Instructional Design & IT Support
Professional instructional designers and IT specialists
Create attractive layout of courses
Embed technology tools
Integrate high quality audios and video
Support making changes in content
Fix broken links
Provide on-going tech support

19. Questions?
Thank you!
Contact